Made in Germany by Rabeneick (who still produce bicycles) and introduced to America in 1965, I'm not sure these 50cc bikes were ever actually imported. These pictures came from a road impression in Cycle Magazine June 1965.

Having just had a good tire ruined by a nail, I'd like to know the answer to this. As a first step, I'd suggest targeting the morons who drive around in pickup trucks, tailgates down or missing, with open boxes of drywall screws and other sharp fasteners bouncing around in the back. If anyone who fits this decription is reading this post, smarten up!

An interesting little ratcheting screwdriver I found recently, with a pistol grip and interchangeable bits:

Patent No. 962057 does not correspond to any U.S. or Canadian patents for such screwdrivers. (The US patent with this number is for a "racing apparatus" issued in 1910, the Canadian one for a signboard issued in 1975.) Perhaps it's British, but that country has not made its patent database easily available on the web.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Removed from a 55 year old Cushman wheel. Real heavy rubber and......no leaks! Rust from the rim was stuck to the tube but after some cleaning-and a little Fantastic it cleaned up quite nice. It'll go back into the new tire.

This 500 ton steam packet was one of a number of Royal Mail steamboats operating on Lake Ontario in the 1840s. She was built at Niagara On. in 1841, was rebuilt with larger boilers, cylinders and paddles in 1850 but ended her Royal Mail career on June 25 1853 when she collided with the steamer Mayflower near Whitby On. She was rebuilt several times over the next few years, as she operated along the east coast of the US in different configurations. By then named the Nellie Pentz, she "opened up" and sank in Lynn Haven Bay, Florida in 1865.

One of the many optimistic predictions made by the "thought leaders" Bertin interviewed for his book. Currently, the world's tallest building is the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, 2,716.5 feet high. So we're halfway to the target!

The SS Floraba is launched on a rainy day in September 1920 from the Dominion Shipbuilding Works at the bottom of Spadina Ave in Toronto. The 1655 ton Floraba was exported to Mexico, renamed the Bolivar and scrapped in 1934.Shipbuilding in Toronto

The frontispiece of this high school text from the 20's. I think it perfectly captures the romance of aviation as it extended into more remote parts of the globe. Imagine being a teenager at the time, stuck in English class, dreaming of flying a biplane over the arctic seas!

This seems an overly-elaborate (not to mention unreliable) way to commit murder. Turns out this cliché was almost never used in the silent movies, and pretty much exclusively in comedies. See Movies Silently.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Iceboats to Superferries An illustrated History of Maritime Atlantic Breakwater Books Ltd. 1992

The paddlewheeler City of Monticello, built in 1866 and modernized in 1885, provided steamer service between Saint John and Digby from 1889 to 1896 when she was obsoleted by the new and faster Prince Rupert. She sank off Yarmouth in November 1900 with a loss of 36 lives.

Hugh W. Peart & John Schaffter. The Winds of Change. A History of Canada and Canadians in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1961.

Pégoud was one of the first, if not the first, to loop the loop. He was also the first person to parachute from an aircraft, and the first to lay claim to the title of "ace" (four confirmed aerial victories). He was shot down and killed in 1915 by a former student, now serving in the German air force.

Paul Addison. Now the War is Over. A Social History of Britain 1945-51. British Broadcasting Corporation/Jonathan Cape, 1985.

Woo hoo! It doesn't get any funner than this!

Butlins camps are still around. Founded in 1936 by Billy Butlin, a former fairground showman who brought the first "dodgems" (bumper cars) to Europe, using the profits to found his camp. His motto was "A week's holiday for a week's wages." Holiday pay for workers had just been introduced, so his timing couldn't have been better.